‘There is a lot of talk about orangutan and saving habitat but now it is time to focus on the specifics such as the buffer zone around Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Sumatra, Indonesia.

We need to take urgent action to ensure that orangutan and elephant habitat is saved from being cleared for palm oil and timber plantations. Wildlife Asia is inviting all Australians to help by donating to our appeal which will run from now until Orangutan Caring Week, November 11-17 2012.’
said Wildlife Asia Partnerships Manager Scott Lyall.

Wildlife Asia is raising funds to help The Orangutan Project. The Orangutan Project, founded in 1988, is Australia’s longest running orangutan conservation organisation with representation in all states and territories and over $5m raised for conservation projects in Sumatra and Borneo focussed on compassion, protection and freedom for orangutan.

Funds raised will assist The Orangutan Project’s Safeguard Program, which funds the Wildlife Protection Units (WPU)

The main goals of the WPU are -
1. Establish, train and maintain ranger units to secure the released Sumatran orangutan population and its habitat in Bukit Tigapuluh
2. To stop and prevent illegal logging as the major threat to wildlife habitat.
3. To actively assist the reintroduction/translocation of orangutans at Bukit Tigapuluh.
4. To collect wildlife data in order to produce baseline data for a buffer zone management plan and a wildlife database as an evaluation tool for ecosystem conditions at Bukit Tigapuluh.

Leif Cocks, Founder and President of The Orangutan Project, is
regularly in Sumatra and is dismayed at the loss of habitat in other areas such as the Tripa Swamps. He has identified the buffer zone at Bukit Tigapuluh as habitat that is under threat right now and that must be saved. That was the focus of his presentation at the launch of the appeal at Taronga Zoo on Tuesday 7 August.

You can help this urgent appeal by:
-donating. Wildlife Asia is funded by its members and so 100% your donation goes to the project. Donations are tax deductible.
-setting up a personal fundraising page and getting your friends and colleagues to help.

Contact
Scott Lyall, Partnerships Manager, Wildlife Asia, 0499 773 303
Leif Cocks, President, The Orangutan Project, 0409 100 426